The So-Called “Need” for Religion in a Time of Crisis has Reached a Whole New Level of Absurdity

By: Tom Cara, Associate Executive Director, FFRFMCC

“God has a plan for everything…”

This is the “go-to” phrase for many people of religious faith when they cannot explain why their revered deity would allow for so much pain and suffering in our natural world.  And that this deity, as some believe, is also the true cause of that pain and suffering, because its ways are simply beyond our limited capacity for understanding.

Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde, and now another mass killing of innocent children at a private parochial school in Tennessee.  These represent only a few of the many school shootings we now regularly have to endure and do not factor in the reality that our country must live with the gruesome statistic that there are more mass shootings each year than there are days in a year.  In the United States alone, since the start of 2023, over 10,000 people have been killed by guns.  There have been over 130 mass shootings, and guns are now the leading cause of death among children.  And let us not forget earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, landslides, and a multitude of other natural occurrences that take the lives of both good people and bad people, and innocent children.  Yes, life on Earth can indeed be a violent and dangerous place for all living things.  And while we do not have much ability to control disasters that are naturally occurring events, we can control our own actions and the actions of others through common sense legislation that will reduce gun violence.

For several years, many people, including parents, students, activists, the news media, and even elected officials, have begun acknowledging that “thoughts and prayers” will not curtail excessive gun violence which, without question, is a predominantly United States of America problem. And it would be safe to say this is not because people in other developed western nations pray more. The consensus is now that only legislative measures, not help from above, will make things right.  However, most still tend to fall back on that old habit of calling for prayers for the victims and families.  And even those who elect not to bring thoughts and prayers into the discussion still tend to shy away from directly challenging people who do call for prayers, to the frustration of most freethinkers.  This can only be the result of a long-standing, and one might say cowardly, fear of receiving targeted accusations of being a persecutor of “untouchable” religious faith.  To most atheists, and other self-identified non-religious individuals, the reliance on prayer and the encouragement of such in the aftermath of another mass shooting or natural disaster becomes increasingly absurd due to its obvious lack of effectiveness.  This absurdity should be obvious to all.  Particularly to those who believe the pain and suffering is all a part of their god’s plan for the world.  Because the belief that, through prayer, one can change the mind of a deity that has already laid out its plan for what will happen throughout the future of the world – forever and ever — should seem a bit insane.

It’s one thing for non-believers to roll our eyes at this incessant yet pointless use of time talking to something that a) doesn’t even exist; b) does exist but doesn’t care; or c) has no need to listen because what’s done is done.  But following this latest mass shooting, we have now witnessed a new level of absurdity when it comes to religion and prayer, and the constant decree by so many people in this country that religious faith is needed by all of us in times of crises.  An ideology that most non-believers and critical thinkers have long accepted as a harmful fallacy.

Case in point.  The day after the murder of three adults and three children at Covenant School in Tennessee at the hands of a heavily armed former student of the school, the Christian chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Barry Black, delivered the following prayer to open that day’s session:

“Let us pray.  Eternal God.  We stand in awe of you.  Lord, when babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers.  Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British Statesman, Edmund Burke.  ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good people to do nothing.’

Lord, deliver our Senators from the paralysis of analysis (huh?) that waits for the miraculous.  Use them to battle the demonic forces that seek to engulf us.

We pray, in your powerful name.  Amen.”

In short, the chaplain used the platform and title of religious leader of the Senate, a position he has held since 2003, to pray to his god that it must instill within the members of Congress the wisdom and strength to not rely on prayer to that same god.  Do we see any irony here?

This Christian chaplain is either acknowledging that his god does not have a plan for everything and that we are on our own to take care of each other (i.e., there is no fate, so let’s get off our ass’ and do something!).  Or his omniscient and omnipotent god does have a plan for everything but, for some strange reason, has given its creation the power to overturn that plan.  If God has no plan, and is leaving us to save ourselves without his intervention, then why pray?  If God has already planned out a future for us that cannot be altered, then why pray?

The Senate chaplain, from all indications, appears to be leaning toward the “no fate” scenario, perpetuating the idea that we do have the power to create our own destiny and should therefore not be praying for miracles as a means to deal with problems of which we are perfectly capable of solving on our own .  Yet, apparently in the chaplain’s eyes, prayer is still necessary for us to learn this simple and rational concept. I also find it a bit disturbing that this member of the clergy only felt the need to emphasize a move beyond thoughts and prayers after “innocent babies” had been murdered in a church school. It should have already been apparent to him, particularly through recent history, that places of worship are not sanctuaries of safety against gun violence.

And one must wonder if there was anyone in that Senate chamber thinking, “If this guy is telling us to do all the work ourselves and forget about God and miracles, why do we need him standing up there delivering prayers for us?  Perhaps we should stop wasting precious time listening to prayers advocating for non-prayer, and just get to work.”  Should they also be curious as to how they, as mortal humans, have the power to battle supernatural demonic forces without the help of their god?  A god, mind you, that apparently does not even have enough power of its own to do away with such demonic forces.

In fairness, we must give some credit to this chaplain, as it was indeed a brave prayer to deliver to a group of powerful Washington, DC legislators.  Many of whom, no doubt, believe in that same god being prayed to, yet are being told to ignore.  On the other hand, one must question Reverend Black’s ability to separate the rational side of his brain telling him this is a problem that only comes with a human-driven solution, against the irrational side that says, “No matter what happens to us, we must still have faith that God is looking out for us.”  Clearly, there is some conflict emerging out of this man’s words.  Perhaps, as we can hope, it is a conflict that will result in a deeper examination of his religious beliefs.  Though he has been Senate chaplain for over twenty years, maybe, just maybe, this is a sign of the beginning of an honest-to-goodness questioning of his faith.

If I were a reporter from the news media, I would have taken it upon myself to interview each member of the Senate and ask their thoughts on the chaplain’s prayer.  The answers would indeed be interesting.  No doubt, there would be some who agree with his directive, but will still fall back on the old religious mantra that there is always room to keep Godly faith even when we try to take control of a situation.  There will also be those like U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee), who, when interviewed about what Congress can do about keeping our children safe from gun violence, openly admitted there is nothing Washington can do except make things worse.  Part of his response was to declare, “We (the legislators) are not going to fix it,” referring to the problem of gun violence.  Perhaps, in the mind of someone like Rep. Burchett, the Senate chaplain was dead wrong, and that God, not Congress, is the only solution.  Which makes one wonder, if a person elected to a seat in Congress believes legislators only cause more problems than they solve, why did that person choose to become part of that same problem to begin with?

Somehow that seems just as absurd as someone delivering a prayer calling upon their god to provide the wisdom in others to stop praying to that very same god.

Let us think.

Amen.